(Semi) newbie here with many, MANY questions!

[Snagrio]

The down-side of having a "caged lamp" within a snake's living space is that many try to climb on it, or manage to splash water on it, & the cage, while cooler than the lamp/CHE itself, will also get hot simply because it's metal, or it may be abrasive. (some are likely way better than others)

Did a little more digging and, yeah you have a point. Also there's an option with the T8 to simply have an 8 inch screen circle cut out at the top instead of a large chunk, that'd be far more accommodating and it's cheaper than buying a wire cage from what I've seen online.